If you’re a small business just starting out, you may be asking yourself, ‘do I need an accountant? do I need a bookkeeper?’ What’s the difference between them? Especially if they both use the same online bookkeeping software.
Whether you need both an accountant and a bookkeeper depends upon how confident and competent you are running your books with online bookkeeping software. It also matters whether you have any of the most valuable currency to business owners, time. Time spent preparing your own accounts can take away from other areas of your business.
Bookkeepers perform an indispensable function of accounting. They use online bookkeeping software to accurately prepare your financial records on a day to day basis. Having accurate records is a must for accountants to perform their work and any issues with your books will need to be corrected, perhaps costing you more in accounting fees. Therefore if you’re not sure how to prepare your accounts or how to use online bookkeeping software, you may consider using a bookkeeper.
An accountant’s job is to decide how certain figures such as your profits are to be measured, prepare tax returns and offer business advice. Working from the records in your online bookkeeping software they complete reports and records that need to be submitted to revenue. They can also offer you as the owner insights into your business performance, using critical information from your accounts. Some accounting practices will also offer bookkeeping services as part of a full service offering.
If you are confident in your ability to prepare your own accounts and are willing to, online bookkeeping software can make your life easy with automated double entry, simple invoicing and transaction entry.
However, if you decide that using a bookkeeper, accountant or both is the way to go for your small business, online bookkeeping software will allow you set them up with their own accounts. Now they can remotely manage your records, at no extra cost, saving you time and money.
Set your business up for success, get your hands on an online bookkeeping software package.
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Find out more about Big Red Cloud, the simple online bookkeeping software for start ups and small businesses alike.
